Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Fact Sheet (Wii)

[fitbabits]

The temptation to type Resident Wiivil was almost too much to take.

Anyway, on with (a snippet of) the facts:

# Using the Wii RemoteTM as a gun, players can experience breathtaking combat against a horde of zombies and various creatures in dynamic first-person perspective.
# Support for Wii ZapperTM provides an even more satisfying, immersive experience.
# Single player or two-player co-op
# 480p and 16:9 Widescreen support
The rest of the fact sheet, plus another press release, follows after the jump.

[fitbabits]

Fact sheet:

Resident Evil®: The Umbrella Chronicles is a brand new game in the Resident Evil® franchise, with familiar locales from the entire series. This action/shooter hybrid reveals the back story behind the fall of the Umbrella Corporation by exploring locations from Resident Evil 0, 1, 2 and 3 as well as new never-before-seen locations, such as Umbrella's stronghold. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles combines first-person, light-gun style combat with interactive pathways, multiple weapons and new enemies to create an entirely new Resident Evil experience that could only be delivered on the Wii.

* Using the Wii RemoteTM as a gun, players can experience breathtaking combat against a horde of zombies and various creatures in dynamic first-person perspective.
* Support for Wii ZapperTM provides an even more satisfying, immersive experience.
* Single player or two-player co-op
* 480p and 16:9 Widescreen support
* Certain weapons can destroy environments and items. Shoot objects and watch them splinter, explode and disintegrate. Hidden items may sometimes be found after destroying objects.
* Interactive paths – choose various routes and pathways through the game.
* Multiple weapons, including pistols, submachine guns, rocket launchers, the trusty knife, grenades and many more.
* Classic locations from previous Resident Evil games in full 3D, including the mansion from the original and RE 0, and elements of Raccoon City from RE2 and 3. In addition, explore the Russian stage, a completely new location as well as Umbrella's stronghold, which holds many secrets to events throughout the RE series
* Returning characters from many RE games, including Billy Coen, Rebecca Chambers, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira.

[fitbabits]

Additional press release:

TOKYO — September 20, 2007 „o Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today showcased Resident Evil®: The Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo at Tokyo Game Show 2007. The game will include a two-player co-op mode and support for the Wii Zapper™ for even more intense light-gun style shooting action. Resident Evil® is the highest selling Capcom series with more than 30 million games sold worldwide. Rated M for Mature by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles will be available on November 13 at a suggested retail price of $49.95.

“Resident Evil has become one of the premier franchises in the games industry, with more than 30 million RE games sold around the world,” said Jack Symon, director, product marketing, Capcom Entertainment. “The innovative controller functionality of the Wii will allow us to design innovative, original game play never before seen in a Resident Evil game. With The Umbrella Chronicles, we’re adapting Resident Evil to the innovations of the Wii.”

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is a brand new game in the Resident Evil franchise, with familiar locales from the entire series, created specifically for the unique characteristics of the Wii console. This action/shooter hybrid reveals the back story behind the fall of the Umbrella Corporation by exploring locations from Resident Evil 0, 1, 2 and 3 as well as new never-before-seen locations, such as Umbrella’s stronghold. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles combines first-person, light-gun style combat with interactive pathways, multiple weapons and new enemies to create an entirely new Resident Evil experience that could only be delivered on the Wii.

[BlackPete]

So this is basically House of the Dead? Too bad, I was kinda hoping for more depth in this game. The fact you can change weapons seem like something possibly new...

[Chris_D]

Sounds good to me.

[McNinja]

For $50, I expect light gun perfection. Do not disappoint, Capcom. Ahh . . . who the hell am I kidding? The best we can hope for is that this game is better than Ghost Squad. And more than 2 hours long.

If it's coming on Nov. 13th though, Mario Galaxy will already be spinning in the drive of my Wii. I'll only find out whether this game is any good when I finally emerge from my room, flithy, naked, my hair matted by days of neglect. I will be incapable of human speech and only able to utter the phrase "I R MR GAY!" The next few weeks will be filled with all the usual horrors of Mario withdrawal: an unnatural need to talk to mushrooms, love of blondes in pink dresses and wild urges to kill all turtles. Only after then will I be fit to play another game.

Capcom should reconsider the release date.

[Furious Wang]

played this at comicon. controls were garbage and the graphics were crap. maybe they'll imrpove but nevertheless, the game just didn't feel fun to me in a re4 way or a HoD way. maybe someone will like it but not me.

[BlackPete]

For $50, I expect light gun perfection. Do not disappoint, Capcom. Ahh . . . who the hell am I kidding? The best we can hope for is that this game is better than Ghost Squad. And more than 2 hours long.

:confused:

What do you mean? The Wii controls in RE4 worked great. Does Capcom have a history of disappointment?

[KingGorilla]

For $50, I expect light gun perfection. Do not disappoint, Capcom. Ahh . . . who the hell am I kidding? The best we can hope for is that this game is better than Ghost Squad. And more than 2 hours long.


You DARE! Blaspheme the modern arcade classic, Ghost Squad?

[sprankton]

Also:

*No that is not a train you here, it is every single monster coming at you on rails! yea for the rail shooter!

[gojira]

What's with all the green?

[BlackPete]

What's with all the green?

It's Halo time. Apparently some people really like it...

Sigh.

[Strider]

It's Halo time. Apparently some people really like it...

Sigh.

I second that sigh.

Evil Avatar = Ugly Avatar now :(

Let's return to topic, I have high coop hopes for 'House of the Resident Evil Dead'

I don't care if it's less Resident-evilly.

[J-Dizzle]

OK so what amuses me is "support for Wii zapper"...

Isn't it just a bit of plastic that you plug your controllers into ?

I'm interested to know how they 'support' it. Perhaps I'm whistling dixie. :D

[Headcase]

Yay for low-price, action-packed rail gun shooters!

*looks at price* Um... yay something to play before Galaxy hits!

*looks at release date* Uhh... I'm waiting on reviews for this one.

[alienchild]

OK so what amuses me is "support for Wii zapper"...

Isn't it just a bit of plastic that you plug your controllers into ?

I'm interested to know how they 'support' it. Perhaps I'm whistling dixie. :D

Hahaha well spotted, I didn't think about that one.

I hope this game has a good story representation, as the only reason I'll bother to buy this is because I kind of enjoy this zombie-horror soap-opera.

[Zaro]

I think "support for Wii zapper" mean that you will never have to use the motion of the nunchuk or Wiimote motion cause this will not work with the zapper.

[NeuroMan42]

Sounds interesting... after playing RE4 on the Wii, unless they REDO all the RE games with the RE4 controls I am soooooo not interested in the older games.

Maybe this lightgun style will make me actually want to bother with it.

[PathMaster]

Hopeful for this, CO OP wold rock.

[Kamalot]

This is awesome news. Co-Op takes a good game and makes it a great game, or a great game and makes it an awesome game!

[Bydo_Empire]

Fact: I will buy this. I'm disturbed about the relatively weak previews it's gotten so far, though.

Fact: Arcade games are "short" in that it doesn't take many hours to get to the end (if there is one). But they're designed to be replayed over and over. Rez was "short" too, but it's one of my favorite games last gen. Online leaderboards would help (along w/ co-op).

[Kamalot]

Chris Kohler from Wire's Game|Life column likes the game, but does not like playing it with the Zapper.

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/09/hands-on-reside.html

As we went through the new level (based on the train from Resident Evil 0), there it was: that feeling I'd had the first time through. Such precise aim I had, with little tiny movements of my wrist! As if the signals from my brain were being automatically transmitted into the Wii. Tiny flicks of my hand and zombies fell one by one, and so did a bunch of disgusting leeches that stuck to the screen and attempted to eat our blood.

Emily, meanwhile, was really eager to try out the Wii Zapper. So that's how she started playing the level. Halfway through, I asked her if she wanted to switch. She reluctantly agreed. I picked up the Zapper and found it just as ungainly as I did at E3. Reloading my gun by shaking the Wiimote offscreen changed from a barely-perceptible hand movement to a wild flailing of this massive piece of plastic. To say nothing of pressing the A button to pick up objects, which now required an awkward reach across the top of the Zapper.

I turned to Emily and asked, "What control method do you like better?"

"Just the Wiimote," she said, quietly.

"Oh? And why is that?" I asked.

"Because it's so much easier to aim, you just have to move your wrist a tiny bit," she said.

WHAM! I felt so utterly vindicated that I would have taken a victory lap right then and there had there been room to move around. Sorry, Capcom; sorry, Reggie: the Wii Zapper might be a great toy for casual players and a great marketing hook for Umbrella Chronicles, but it makes the game less fun to play. I'm really looking forward to Umbrella -- the cooperative mode was lots of fun -- but I'll be playing it Zapperless when it launches on November 13.

[southwick]

Sounds like they need to figure out a better control scheme for using the zapper. Barring his "inprecise" feelings, most of his annoyance seemed to be with the reloading, and difficulty reaching the A button.

This could be just a design issue with the zapper design by limiting the player to only 4 buttons, but it seems like some clever use of those 4 buttons could solve the problem.

[Kamalot]

Sounds like they need to figure out a better control scheme for using the zapper. Barring his "inprecise" feelings, most of his annoyance seemed to be with the reloading, and difficulty reaching the A button.

This could be just a design issue with the zapper design by limiting the player to only 4 buttons, but it seems like some clever use of those 4 buttons could solve the problem.

Sounds like the reloading could be solved with the old Virtua Cop, 'point off the screen and shoot' method. :D